Read the excerpt from Act III of Hamlet. To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what drea
ms may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. What does Hamlet mean by "shuffled off this mortal coil"? dying living dreaming sleeping
"To be or not to be; that is the question" reflects Hamlet's troubled state of mind. In act III, scene I we read, in Hamlet's words a frequent reference to sleep and to die and "by a sleep to say we end" indicates that "shuffled off this mortal coil" means dying. The same allusion is present when it is said: Rest in peace, the peaceful rest is death.
